
Mercenary Swedes
French Subsidies to Sweden 1631-1796
Svante Norrhem(Author)
Nordic Academic Press
Published on 10. April 2019
Book
Hardback
292 pages
978-91-88661-82-1 (ISBN)
Description
In the 1630s, France persuaded Sweden to fight on its side against the Holy Roman Emperor in the vicious, prolonged war between Protestant and Catholic states. Both countries goal was to limit the Empire s expansion, and the Swedes needed funds. Under the 1631 agreement, Sweden received French subsidies of about 400,000 Swedish riksdaler every year for five years a vast sum. This agreement was the first in a long line of deals between France and Sweden until 1796, which meant 166 years of intermittent support. In some years French subsidies amounted to a startling 20 per cent of the Swedish national budget. But how did the two countries manage to remain allies despite their abiding mutual mistrust? The historian Svante Norrhem charts the patterns of relations between the two countries in this wide-ranging study. With his skilful command of the international archival material he examines the reasons for the pact and the mutual dependency it led to. Norrhem discusses the motives and effects of the French subsidies. What about Sweden s honour, for example? To be so dependent on another state could signal that it was less than scrupulous In the end, the collaboration also had a profound impact on the Swedish state and society, and to some extent on France politics, territory and reputation were all at stake.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Lund
Sweden
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
Dimensions
Height: 221 mm
Width: 142 mm
Thickness: 28 mm
Weight
612 gr
ISBN-13
978-91-88661-82-1 (9789188661821)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
05/2019
Nordic Academic Press
€41.49
Available for download

E-Book
05/2019
Nordic Academic Press
€41.49
Available for download
Person
Svante Norrhem was born 1962 in Ludvika, since 2014 he ia a senior lecturer (docent) in history at the Department of History in Lund. Prior to that he has been working as a professor of history at UmeaNorrhem University. He trained as a subject teacher in history and Swedish at Umea University and then underwent doctoral education in Umea and at St Peters College, Oxford University. http://www.hist.lu.se/person/Svante
Content
1. Subsidies - an introduction
2. Subsidies: treaties, context and content
3. Subsidies - dependence and independence
4. Subsidies, honour and glory
5. Subsidies - French aims and interests
6. Rivalry, conflict and complications
7. Subsidies - history and enduring friendship
8. Subsidies - resistance and criticism
9. Implications of subsidies: migration, mobility och mortality
10. Effects of subsidies: three cases
Concluding discussion
References
2. Subsidies: treaties, context and content
3. Subsidies - dependence and independence
4. Subsidies, honour and glory
5. Subsidies - French aims and interests
6. Rivalry, conflict and complications
7. Subsidies - history and enduring friendship
8. Subsidies - resistance and criticism
9. Implications of subsidies: migration, mobility och mortality
10. Effects of subsidies: three cases
Concluding discussion
References